Hanging file folder frames are an essential part of modern document organization systems, providing efficient storage and convenient access to documents placed in vertically arranged pocket-type hanging file folders. To be of practical value, a hanging folder frame must be inexpensive to make and easy to assemble, and have a strong and rigid structure. In addition, given the diversity of sizes of file folders and storage cabinets or drawers currently in use, it is very important that the frames and rails provide both lateral and longitudinal adjustability in order to meet the requirements of various different office settings.
A number of solutions have been proposed in the past to meet these often contradictory requirements. Some approaches focus on lateral ad]ustability of the
hanging folder frame in order to accommodate different folder sizes. One way to achieve this involves telescopic horizontal cross-members extendible to different positions, as shown bY U.S. Pat. No. 3,999,663. In this arrangement, the frames are relatively complex, making them costly and awkward to adjust. In addition, although providing the desired adjustability, the frames designed according to this approach are structurally weak.
Other known solutions involve invertible assemblies, one end of which is adjusted to accommodate one type of folders, for instance letter size, while the inverted frame is adjusted to accommodate a different type of folders, frequently legal size document folders. The end frames according to this approach have a rigid structure as in U.S. Pat. No. 4,526,277, or can be of an X-shaped configuration, as in U.S. Pat. No. 4,295,571, both frames supporting letter and legal size folders. In each case, the proposed structure only has limited lateral adjustability (two options) and cannot be used in a more general setting. Also, the assembly of the X-shaped frames involves loose hardware and is complicated.
Other known hanging folder frames are designed in search of compactness of the overall structure by means of removable vertical support mountings. An example is described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,848,748, wherein the vertical mountings are rotationally connected to fixed size upper and lower frames by means of hooks. The vertical support mountings can be folded and collapsed to occupy minimum space in one dimension. The upper and lower frames, however, are of fixed dimensions, corresponding to the maximum width and length of the supported file cabinets. Thus, by necessity, any package containing these components will be quite large in at least one dimension.
Due to the requirement of rigidity of the support rails, only relatively few known solutions provide longitudinal adjustability of the hanging folder frame and an associated compact storage feature of the disassembled structure. Adjustability of the rail length is typically achieved by means of weakened notch regions located at the end portions of the support rails, which weakened regions can be broken away to obtain the desired length of the rails (U.S. Pat. No. 3,999,663). While providing the desired adjustability in length, this approach still has the disadvantage of requiring a packaging box of the largest possible dimensions, which makes shipping, handling and storage inconvenient and costly. In addition, once adjusted to a specific size, frames of this type cannot properly be readjusted to exploit the full capacity of larger size file cabinets.
Longitudinal adjustability is the object of another type of hanging folder frames, as exemplified by U.S. Pat. No. 2,852,028, where one rail element is adjustably sliding in a channel, and is secured to a second rail element of much shorter length. As in the previous case, however, the storage box by necessity must have at least one relatively large dimension. Also, the assembly of the frame may is complicated.
Thus, no currently used hanging folder system provides easy to assemble components, adjustability in two dimensions (i.e., width and depth), and a structure which facilitates compact packaging and storage.